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Chapter 9 – The First
“When, when did I…?”
After she stuttered in response, Jiwoo closed her lips. It was from the moment she touched his ear that Lanceil was behaving strangely.
He panicked and asked what an adult woman was doing. And there were very few actions that would have resulted in such a reaction.
‘Is that what you meant?’
He was rebuking her for not even letting him know her name, and it was something that’s said only when they’re seducing or being seduced. Because you can’t kiss someone you don’t even know the name of.
Jiwoo raised her hands and waved it.
“Ah, I… I…”
She didn’t mean it that way. She just touched him to heal the severed ear.
When Jiwoo hesitated, Lanceil suddenly got depressed.
“By any chance… Do you not like me?”
The corners of Lanceil’s eyes went down, and when the thick eyelashes lowered down too, a deep shade was created.
“Unlike your tribe… I look very different. Especially in my group, I’m especially ugly and I don’t have a good scent…”
“No!”
It was ridiculous to say he smelled bad. Because he smelled the best among men Jiwoo had ever met. It could be that the good scent was characteristic of their tribe. It could be true that his scent was, as he said, was bad among them.
But even so, it was good for Jiwoo. Even his saliva was as sweet as honey.
And it was even more difficult to accept that he was ugly. She thought this was odd.
But it was because of his strangely colored hair and eyes that are hard to see in humans, and Lanceil was objectively handsome from the first time she saw him.
Jiwoo said hurriedly because Lanceil was not just depressed, but rather digging into the ground.
“…I like you.”
“Really?”
Lanceil looked noticeably relieved.
“Thank you for the empty words.”
“They’re not empty words, you’re really handsome.”
“Really?”
“You smell good, and you taste sweet… hng…!”
And Lanceil happily kissed Jiwoo again.
His soft tongue tapped against her lips, and eventually went inside and intertwined with her tongue. Sweet saliva wetted her mouth. Jiwoo held up both her hands and stiffened.
It was then that she realized that what she had said was seriously misleading. She said he smelled good, but he took it as saying that she liked the kiss.
“Haa.”
“Ung…”
Their lips parted for a moment, then met again. Even with that brief opportunity, Jiwoo couldn’t push him away.
She missed the opportunity to correct the misunderstanding, and this situation and touch were shockingly anew.
To be honest, Lanceil wasn’t very good at kissing.
Since Jiwoo had dated the crown prince for five years, who was skilled in this kind of physical affairs, she could feel that way.
Any time she slept with the crown prince was quite rough. Aleph, who had as much physical strength as his physique, was like a man who had been on the battlefield when his emotions were heightened, his movements became intense.
Jiwoo couldn’t keep up with him during the times they slept together, so there were many times that he exhausted her stamina and fell asleep.
Aleph treated her gently at first, but as she got used to it, his behavior became more and more rough. Other than that, even if Jiwoo was overwhelmed and he restrained himself, he was never gentle with his kisses.
A kiss with the crown prince always seemed to bite. He grabbed Jiwoo’s head and chewed her tongue.
Although it was difficult to keep up with shortness of breath, it also gave that much pleasure, and because the crown prince liked it, Jiwoo was also adapting to such behavior.
However, the kiss Lanceil gave was too soft. There was no suffocating sensation. Instead, a corner of her chest tickled.
Lanceil intertwined his tongue deeply, and when her breathing became rough, he held their lips together for a moment, then licked her lower lip again.
When Jiwoo opened her mouth again, the soft tongue invaded once more and explored her mouth. The sweetness she felt whenever their saliva mixed gave a feeling of comfort rather than pleasure.
“Huu…”
The tongue, which was stroking her insides, went away for a moment. Their foreheads touched. The breath between them was hot and fragrant.
“Is it okay to do more?”
“Ah…”
This time was her chance to say no. But Jiwoo met his staring blue eyes, and stiffened blankly. She didn’t say anything until Lanceil’s lips met hers again. She just thought this was far from pleasure.
However, contrary to what she thought, the tickling feeling was faithfully heightening into pleasure. Lanceil’s hand patted her ear. The hard, calloused fingers touched the lobe and stroked the auricle.
When he stroked the round shape and rubbed it as if wandering around the lobe, even her lower body was tingling. Even with the careful touch, goosebumps arose. She seemed to understand why touching their ears could be considered so seductive.
“Hng…”
Lanceil’s hand stroked the nape of her neck more boldly, touched the tender skin inside, she even moaned when it came down.
The hand reached through her collar. This was an obvious sensual touch, which left Jiwoo in a bit of a shock.
There were times when she didn’t even think that her love for the crown prince would come true, so Jiwoo liked that the crown prince at least felt sexually attracted to her.
She thought that the act of pouring passion into her in his own way and the uncontrollable passion when looking at her were attractive.
She felt enough pleasure while forcing herself to fit in with his tendency to enjoy rough relationships, so she thought this was the type of love she would achieve.
She told herself this: he loved her so much that he couldn’t control his passion. That was how much she was loved.
But was it a mistake? Even without such desperate feelings, there could be pleasure.
Just like this relationship between her and Lanceil.
“You saved my life and chose me, so my life will be yours forever.”
“Ugh…”
Lanceil’s words that clearly meant courting, Jiwoo burst out in tears. As if he felt something unusual, Lanceil immediately stopped.
“Why? No, I’m sorry.”
And he apologized blindly, even though he couldn’t understand the situation.
“I must have done something wrong. As I said before, it’s my first time meeting a human…”
No. He did nothing wrong.
Jiwoo hated herself for thinking of the crown prince even in a situation like this. Even when she was kissed softly like the west wind during spring, it was tragic that her body that was accustomed to rough behavior reminded her of the crown prince.
It was better to think about dying or not thinking at all. Her thoughts began to run through her head again.
It was painful. Without a word, Jiwoo only shed tears.
“Oh no… Akarna…”
Lanceil, who knew Jiwoo was refusing to touch him, was restless, unable to even wipe her tears with his hands.
Pitter, patter.
Perhaps the sky wanted to cover her tears.
Even the dark sky rumbled and raindrops began to fall. Lanceil looked up at the sky and clicked his tongue.
“Let’s avoid the rain first, okay?”
Lanceil’s long ears perked up, and the tip of one ear trembled.
“There’s a shelter from the rain nearby. Come on.”
Jiwoo cuddled up snuggly to Lanceil. However, the tears did not stop flowing.
Lanceil, unaware of Jiwoo’s situation, was confused as to whether to be relieved or worried about her reaction.
* * *
There was a cave nearby.
Lanceil, who ran into the cave holding Jiwoo, immediately lit a bonfire to dry her wet body. Jiwoo, who looked blankly at the burning flame, opened her mouth.
She felt like she had to clear up the misunderstanding first.
“Lanceil.”
“Yes?”
When his name was called, Lanceil looked around immediately.
“Come closer…”
As Lanceil approached without a doubt, Jiwoo quickly touched his ear. The tip of her finger already has a drop of blood.
“Uhk…!”
When her hand touched him, Lanceil moaned in surprise. To them, the ear seemed to be a fairly sensitive organ.
When Akarna’s blood was smeared on it, the healing that had failed last time began to work. The ear, which had been severed, was regenerated in an instant.
“Ah…”
Lanceil touched both of his ears, which had been healed, and soon realized the truth. His face was stained with shame.
“…I, I made a big mistake in the first place.”
With his face blushing and wandering here and there, unable to put his gaze anywhere, he finally got up because he could not stand the awkward atmosphere.
“I’ll go out and get some food.”
“Lanceil.”
Jiwoo caught him. It was a small, weak hand that barely grabbed the hem of his clothes.
Small movements that can be overlooked. But Lanceil was caught as if it equaled a great rake. It was the first time Jiwoo had caught him first, so he seemed to be worried about this,
“Why? Are you still feeling sick?”
He has good ears, so he would have been able to notice even a small movement like this with agility. It was just that Jiwoo’s heart had moved a little.
The crown prince was able to give his body and soul to another. Why did she have to look at only him? Why did she have to thank him for supposedly sacrificing certain things for her sake when all she could do was shudder at his betrayal?
Was that her only option?
Jiwoo bit her lips.
“What if it’s not a mistake?”
“What?”
“What, what if you were right about what I want…?”
There was no shyness in Jiwoo’s expression when she confessed her attraction. There was also no pretense of a seducer. The emotion that was clearly revealed was not even the intimacy of talking to the person she liked.
Her expression, which seemed to hold back tears, but looked desperate for something, resembled fear at most. It was a longing for life rather than love. With the face of a dead person who will collapse if touched, the Akarna was telling lies.
However, it also resembled that same desperate expression when she rescued Lanceil, who had been swallowed up by the miasma.
Lanceil took her hand as she reached out to him.
“I told you. My life will be yours from now on.”
It didn’t matter.
Whatever this feeling was, it was clear that the feeling that had saved her.